I'm late here, but felt the urge to chime in :). This is a very tricky skirt to wear in colder climates, IMHO, because of the complexity of pairing tights with it. I remember when everyone was buying it and I was thinking I would be interested to see what color tights people pick. I think Kari has this, and also Sveta--maybe look at their pics to get some ideas? ETA: I think there is actually a thread devoted to people's pics of themselves wearing this skirt! That could be helpful and fun... It's easier to pair brightly-colored skirts with bare legs, compared to the analytical puzzle that is bright skirt + tights + shoes + shirt + flattering colors + hair + bookending + accessorizing :).
To me, solid black tights with this is too bumble bee/stark. I go with charcoal gray with colors like this (though to me, this color looks more like a bright lemon yellow than a mustard? so, more springy than wintery? but maybe it's just my monitor...), then you could wear black booties, as long as you incorporate some gray into your top half, like that fab gray sweater you are returning :(. I think your hair is black enough that it bookends your shoes.
Re. the top being boxy: I think people are seeing that the top and skirt look like they are roughly the same size, like two boxes stacked on top of each other. Pairing the skirt with a slightly longer or more fitted top would change that up, or pairing that blouse with a longer pencil skirt would do the trick too (e.g., at or slightly below the knee). I would think that that blouse would look great untucked or tucked with all sorts of pants too.
But it's this skirt that is complex, coupled with your wintery weather--it's not you being anything less than skillful!
